A Tall and Small Collection | Soren

Distracting Stories

It felt like the day was draining away. Each second dragged its feet for the next second to procrastinate even longer than the last. It was agonizing.

It wasn't that Soren lacked confidence in his younger siblings to climb up the staggering height of the standing desk. It wasn't that Soren didn't want them to see Brady. It was his belief that this needed to be handled in a calm environment and an anxious climb up the line would only exacerbate and taint the encounter.

If Brady couldn't pull through, Soren wanted Dorian and Rey, at the very least, to be able to say good-bye calmly and in their own way. Sitting exposed on a desk felt more like a display.

So, they sat just under the edge of the bed and waited the painstaking time until they heard Ashlynn's muffled voice through the door. She was talking to someone and, instinctually, they pulled further into the shadows of the bed comforter as the voice of another woman and presumably the boy responsible for Brady's injuries. The conversation lasted for a few minutes before the door shut with a dulled thud.

Moments later, Ashlynn knocked on the door and peaked her head into the room. "Soren? Are you okay?" She took a hesitant step into the room. "I'm coming in." The Borrowers stepped out from their shadowed concealment, both Dorian and Rey clinging to each of Soren's arms not from fear but for comfort and reassurance.

Ashlynn's eyes scanned the ground carefully, lighting up with recognition and a twinge of sadness upon spotting the three familiar faces she had grown accustomed to seeing every day. She could see out of the corner of her eye that the container hadn't moved, and neither did Brady. A subtle sense of gratitude washed over Ashlynn. Leaving Soren alone with the guy who he was angry enough to throttle wasn't ideal and Ashlynn wondered what Soren might do the moment she left; but thankfully he hadn't tried to move Brady off of the desk or do anything else reckless.

Instinctively, she closed the door behind her and knelt. It had become second nature, kneeling to not seem so intimidating. Following their pattern, they began to approach. She couldn't imagine what was going on in the young boys' heads. Well... she could... but she shrugged it off. Telling them a story of how she had an idea of what they were going through would redirect the attention from Brady who still wasn't out of the woods yet.

She snapped out of her gaze just as Soren tried to get her attention. "Yes? Sorry," she apologized, her blue-grey eyes fixating on his steeled features. Soren's hazel eyes, filled with the pain of others, had a false hardness to them. Even if the eldest of the three brothers didn't care for Brady, it was still obvious that a life was a life to him.

"No, it's okay. Um... Ashlynn, could you... bring down the box and put it by the bed?" asked Soren. She fulfilled the request, carefully keeping the container level and placing it by the bed. The younger two kept close to Soren's side as he muttered a brief "thank you" and guided them to the makeshift bed.

~~~~~

Dorian and Rey weren't sure what they were expecting. Despite the fact that Soren had warned them, it didn't stop their breath from hitching in their throat after uttering the faintest gasps. Soren was right, their dad did look different. He was thinner and bruised. Things just looked... off. He was asleep at the moment, but that didn't seem to deter their older brother who guided them forward to the edge of the container.

"H-how long will he be...?" The question could be filled in a number of ways, but Soren simply pulled Dorian further under his arm in a half shoulder hug.

"He needs his rest, but I'm sure we'll wake up soon." The words soothed Dorian and Rey's minds, but it seemed to be just now sinking in how terrible the wounds actually were. They wordlessly sat on the edge and waited for their dad to regain consciousness.